Rachel

Rachel loved classical music. She would use her imagination of being on stage dancing away to the violin along with the other music players. Her parents were poor so she had no dancing shoes. She would borrow her cousins dance then she would dance with such grace and energy that a lambent light appeared around her silhouette. It was the ultimate high for a poor girl growing up in Bronx New York.

Life was not easy for Rachel; she was sad most of the time and hungry. Her parents were addicted to crack and any money was used to feed their habit, not the child they created.

Looking back Rachel had come a long way from the rats and roaches that invaded her home territory. At age twelve she was removed from her parents’ custody, she had not eaten in three days at that point.

It was a hot June morning when the rain beat the pavement like thunder, she poked her head out the window to taste the rain, it quenched her thirst, but her stomach still cramped from lack of food.

Suddenly there was a knock on the half hinged door that had two planks of wood a crossed it to keep intruders out along with a chair propped up against it. Her father opened the door to a woman who was dressed in a scarlet pant suit and introduced herself as Mrs. Violet from family and children services. She was there to rescue a little girl named Rachel. Mrs. Violet brought enforcements with her the police officers restrained the father and mother as they fought against their child being removed. Rachel was scared so she hid in the closet under a pile of dirty clothes for protection. Mrs. Violet found her and in her gentle southern voice told Rachel there was no need to fret none, Rachel did not know what that meant but was so weak from lack of food that the pretty stranger was a welcome site.

Rachel was dirty, her clothes torn and too small plus the sole in the middle of her gym shoes was missing and her big toe was tearing holes at the top of the shoe. Rachel reached to the stranger as she lost consciousness.

She awake in the hospital with an IV in her arm to feed nourishment she was sorely lacking. Rachel snatched the IV out of her arm she was a xenophobic and she did not know the purpose for the IV. Bells went off as Mrs. Violet tried to restrain the scared child. The nurses ran in and re-inserted the IV line. Rachel was also given a mild sedative to help calm her. All she knew was that she was taken away from the only home and family she knew. She wanted to go home to her mother and repeated it as she sobbed.

Mrs. Violet had been a social worker for 15 years and each case of abuse was heart-wrenching. She was taught to keep a distance between her emotions and the children involved. But there was something about Rachel that compelled her to be her guardian.

When Rachel was released from the hospital Mrs. Violet picked her up and took her to her new home. The home was upstate in Long Island. Rachel had heard of the city but never been there until now. She marveled at the big homes with nice yards and flowers that fragranced the air as the car rolled down the streets. Rachel knew why she could not return home but seeing the beautiful places she did not think about going back to the Bronx anymore.

She saw a waterfall in from of one of the homes which caused her mouth to open wide with a WOW! As the car slowed to enter the driveway Rachel looked in amazement at the beautiful brick house that was now her home. She slowly got out of the car with encouragement from Mrs. Violet. When the house door opened two small kittens came running toward them which frightened Rachel. She started screaming and ran out of the house like someone had hurt her. Mrs. Violet ran after her to console her. She convinced Rachel that the kittens were harmless and just wanted to play with her. Rachel had never been in a house that big before. There were shiny things everywhere her eye could see; it was clean and smelled pretty.

Mrs. Violet took her to her new room with walls in her two favorite colors; pink and dark purple. Rachel rubbed her eyes to see if she was dreaming. When she opened her eyes the room was still there and there was a huge closet filled with beautiful clothes for her. Her new bed was brass canopy. She also had a toy chest filled with new toys. Rachel was so thrilled she gave Mrs. Violet a big thank you along with a hug and kiss.

It did not take long for Rachel to settle into her new surroundings. School on the other hand was difficult. She was far behind the other children in that community so she had to take special classes and extra tutoring. Since Rachel did have a learning disability which took plenty of hard work on everyone’s part to get Rachel up to speed. Mrs. Violet made sure Rachel received quality training which paid off in the end.

Rachel ended her high-school years in honors classes and two new siblings that the Violet’s adopted along with Rachel. Rachel was a big sister and proud of it. She was so happy to have become part of a loving family and overcoming her learning disability. She decided to go to college and continue her education, she wanted to be an inspiration to adults that rescuing children from horrible conditions and giving them love and support can turn their lives around for the better.

Rachel started college in the autumn majoring in Social Sciences. Rachel wanted to do for some children what was done for her, she wanted to be the Mrs. Violet to other kids by giving back to the community she was born in. Although she left behind her unhappy roots of growing up in the Bronx she never forgot the love she found in classical music but now she had her own dancing shoes and violin to dance to.